


Who's a Good Boy?

by bakaa_usagi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Doggy au, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Keith and Lance are coworkers in an office setting, Keith/Lance (Voltron) Fluff, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, M/M, Modern AU, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Worried Keith (Voltron), klance centric, klangst, slight angst but mostly humor and fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21907735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bakaa_usagi/pseuds/bakaa_usagi
Summary: "Hey there Keithy boy, you done for the day yet?" he grinned whilst leaning on the partition to peer at the other's desk lazily.Keith looked up from his screen and saw an all too familiar face perched on top of his cubicle wall. Given the fact that he was still new and on contract for the next three months, he supposed he should at least try to be a little more amicable. He stopped his vigorous typing to respond."What is it Lance? Did you need something?"--Where Lance's day at work goes from nice to horrible in less than five minutes.He's hungry, cold, and stuck in a hell of a predicament.Unfortunately for Lance, the only person who could possibly help him was none other than his newest coworker, grumpy, broody Keith.This was going to end well.
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	1. A Cold Night

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This au all started as an RP with a friend way back when voltron first came out, so the first few chapters may seem a bit disjointed and jumpy but I tried my best to edit them in a way that I hope is more or less fluent ; u ; 
> 
> I felt that it would be a cute little read for anyone who would be interested in some klance fluff! I hope you all will enjoy the sillyness and I will try my best to finish something a friend and I started but had let sit collecting dust. 
> 
> Thank you so much for giving this a read, and I'd really love to know your thoughts!  
> I thought posting the first chapter would motivate me to write the rest, so all kudos and comments would be greatly appreciated :"D 
> 
> Now on with the story!

Lance stretched, feeling the joints in his back crack before he sighed. It's been a long day and he was looking forward to just getting home and gettin’ his chill on. Grabbing his work bag, he hummed while turning the corner to say bye to mr.mullet. What could he say? The man drove him up the wall, but A. Lance was a gentleman and B. the new guy was fun to annoy.

"Hey there Keithy boy, you done for the day yet?" he grinned whilst leaning on the partition to peer at the other's desk lazily.

Keith looked up from his screen and saw an all too familiar face perched on top of his cubicle wall. Given the fact that he was still new and on contract for the next two months, he supposed he should at least try to be a little more amicable. He stopped his vigorous typing to respond.

"What is it Lance? Did you need something?"

He’s only worked with Lance once during his first week, and since then — unlike all the other project staff members who retreated back to their seats when the project was done and never spoke to him again since — Lance chose to loiter around him.

"Well,” he singsonged, “I was just gonna ask if you wanted to catch a bite with me? It's late and we both missed lunch today because of the heavy workload. I was going to get some food before heading home. So, how ‘bout it?" he fluttered his eyelashes dramatically, an encouraging smile plastered on his face, hoping it was both convincing and annoying to his grumpy coworker. He was always amused by the brooding vibes that always seemed to exude from Keith. As he expected, an all too familiar glare was sent his way, along with an eye roll from his moody coworker. Lance laughed before tugging on Keith's chair to get him away from his computer screen.

"Come on man! Just chill and hang out a little, I'll even treat you newbie, how’s that?" he grinned.

"No, really, I should finish-"

Keith tried to excuse himself from the invitation only to find his chair being forcefully spun back to meet the brunette.

"...this."

Before he could say anything else, Lance had already tossed him his coat and scarf. Arms now full of clothing, he looked back at his screen and then at Lance. There was a lot of work left, but if he grabbed something quick, he could still come back and finish it before midnight. Heaving a huge sigh, Keith finally gave in.

"Fine. Where to?" he asked while tugging his sweater through the sleeve of his black coat.

Lance opened his mouth, prepared to keep convincing his stubborn coworker to come with him, even though he was really only doing it in jest, but closed it with an audible click when he realized that Keith had just agreed. He blinked for a few long seconds before beaming at the dark haired man, shocked, but pleasantly surprised that he actually accepted the offer.

"O-Oh! Awesome.” Lance responded, taken aback.

“Uhh...How about the coffee shop a block away? Oh, or maybe the ramen place on the other side of the street? OH! Or maybe tacos? That one is probably the closest. Which one do you want Keith?" he grinned excitedly before bodily dragging the other man's arm towards the elevator doors while haphazardly pulling on his own beanie. He never gave giving his coworker a chance to properly respond until they were out of the office building and in the cold.

––

Despite the amount of choices, they ended up at the taco shop down the street. It was a small place with a side entrance — the kind that's easily unnoticed even if you walked passed it everyday. The bell jingled when they pushed the door open and they were welcomed by the enticing smell of meat and spice accompanied by the festival christmas melody playing softly in the background. Lance easily struck conversation with the man behind the counter and Keith wondered if he was a regular, or if it was just the spanish. Either way, it was good for him, since he'd never had mexican food before and wouldn't really know what to order from the word filled chalkboard menu.

They were sat down at a booth, and Lance excitedly opened the menu, eager to order asap since he was starving. After a quick skim of the familiar names of the dishes, face scrunched up in thought, he nodded, quickly making a decision before peering over the menu to glance at Keith. Much to his amusement, his coworker had donned his “I’m concentrating hard on my work” face, thick brows furrowed and mouth pursed whilst staring at the large menu held out in front of him.

"So Keith, any preferences? Their burritos and tacos are really good, and their nachos with guacamole are super good too, we could share that if you want?" he paused, realizing Keith was now giving him a blank and confused look.

"Uhhh...Keith?"

The other man snapped out of it, before looking away.

“...I’ve...never had tacos.” He mumbled under his breath, and Lance had to lean in and strain his ears to make out what the other man was saying before his eyes went comically wide. He slammed the table in shock. Scandalous! Keith had never had tacos before?!

"Woah woah woah! _Never had?!_ I got you man. you've never really lived until you've had some of this!"

Lance quickly flagged the waiter, now filled with determination. Flailing his one arm much more than Keith deemed necessary, before ordering a bunch of dishes in fluent spanish.

Keith couldn’t get over how interesting it was to see Lance speak spanish in front of him. He’s only ever heard his coworker swear a few times in spanish, but Keith would be lying if he said he didn’t think the change in the other’s lilt and tone was unpleasant.

Once their order was put in, Lance huffed and settled back down into the booth.

Leave it up to Lance to cause a big commotion, but really, how could Keith expect anything less. This was the same guy who ran down the hall last week practically screaming “code 504, we have an emergency!” In the end, Keith had found out that, fortunately, no the world was not coming to an end; but the coffee beans in the common room needed to be refilled.

"Wow, I can't believe you've never had any tacos or mexican before man... what else haven't you had?"

The tanned boy raised a delicate eyebrow while he stripped off his stuffy winter clothing. His beanie making a mess of his brown hair, but he didn't really seem to notice, all of his attention focused on his korean coworker.

Keith shrugged under Lance’s scrutiny.

"I don't know, thai, viet, jamaican...a lot of things really, my parents were never really a fan of delivery or take out so i'd usually end up having either korean or american food when growing up."

Lance could only shake his head in disbelief before he calmed down some.

"I see... well not anymore, you're gonna discover a whole new world with me here today!" the tanned boy puffed his chest out proudly.

Once the food arrived, Lance continued to talk between mouthfuls of food, eager to tell Keith some of his best funny stories, and more fun facts about the food on the table.

Out of all the mexican dining experiences that he could have, Keith was glad that his first was with someone who was knowledgeable to the cuisine. Dinner conversation was actually quite enjoyable, not only did it take his mind off the strings of codes from his screen, but now he also could easily distinguish between hard shell tacos, tacos dorados, and traditional soft shell tacos. Well, there are actually only 2 kinds of tacos as hard shell tacos are American invented and "untasteful rigid knock-offs" in the brunette's exact words.

Between Lance's dramatic reenactment of their first project client nightmare and the delicious bites on the table, Keith easily lost track of time. Their meal ended rather quickly, both men having been pretty famished. Lance sighed in content before slumping in his seat, feeling full and content.

"So? Did you like it?" Lance laughed softly, hoping Keith enjoyed the meal even though he knew the man seemed to be perpetually annoyed. There was just something about Keith that made Lance want to know more about him.

“Yeah, it was good.”

Lance could only smirk smugly when Keith had hesitantly said he had enjoyed the food.

Keith shook his head, having no idea why Lance was so...odd sometimes. But he couldn’t squish down a weird feeling of something, when he was around the other man. Something weird and foreign that he had no idea how to make sense of, but was honestly too tired and full to care about right now.

Keith was pulled out of his thoughts, when the waiter came with the cheque. Lance practically slapped Keith's hand aside, insisting that he paid for the meal whilst tipping the waiter handsomely.

“Lance, you really didn’t have to do that.” he frowned, not expecting Lance to actually treat him to dinner.

“Don’t worry about it man, I’m just glad you enjoyed it.” he smiled, hoping Keith would just let it slide. Because, to be honest Lance had no idea Keith would agree to have a late dinner with him of all people. He had asked just for the hell of it, maybe get a scoff or an eye roll before being dismissed. Never in a million years did he think the other would agree, and Lance tried really damn hard not to think about their little outing as some sort of weird “date”, not that Lance would really mind if it was. But that's besides the point. No, don’t even go there. Keith just tolerates you, and was probably just trying to be polite.

Keith watched Lance with a frown. Was he really going to let Lance pay for his dinner? As much as his instincts told him a resounding “no'', the way Lance was smiling at him made the words die in his throat. All of this was a new side of Lance Keith wasn’t very privy to at work, and Keith would be lying if he said he didn’t like seeing this new side of him.

"Hey, so uh, you heading home? Or...?" Lance inquired, realizing that they’ve both been awkwardly silent for a while, and that Keith would drop the bill issue. He also knew they should probably get going so that the people in the restaurant could close down shop.

Keith was a well known workaholic, but inwardly Lance hoped he'd say he was going home so they could walk in the same direction, since their apartment buildings were in close proximity to one another. He wasn’t really a fan of walking home alone in the cold, it’s why he hated overtime. Wrapping his blue scarf securely around his neck and pulling his beanie back on, he stood and stretched, before glancing at Keith curiously.

It wasn't until Lance asked, that Keith slid back the sleeve of his well pressed cuffs to check the time on his watch.

"Shit." He cursed under his breath, "I gotta get back to the office." It was already half past nine, and with the flurries starting, he didn't want to get stuck in the snow past midnight.

"Oh...okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then!"

There was a look of disappointment on Lance's face despite his cheery tone, but Keith didn't know why his coworker would be upset, since he got to go home. It made Keith feel weird things all the same.

"Hey!" Keith called out, a warm puff of breath escaping his lips as they were both exiting the restaurant doors.

The brunette paused, surprised Keith had called for him. One elegant foot paused mid-air out of the door.

"Yeah?" his signature eyebrows going up curiously.

"Lunch is on me next time." Keith wasn't going to let Lance get away with his little stunt tonight so easily.

Lance could barely hide how surprised he was at Keith’s offer. Keith wanted to hang out with him again? Just them?

"Y-Yeah! Sounds good man, let me know whenever you want to have lunch then." Turning back to face the other man properly, his smile returned at Keith’s statement. It was totally unexpected but not unwelcome.

“Yeah.” Keith replied, a hint of a smile of his own on his face. He fought down the weird feeling again when he realized he was the one who put the smile back on Lance’s face.

Taking a few steps backwards to give Keith some space to exit the doors, Lance decided to end the night off with a teasing comment because contrary to wanting company on his walk back home, he needed time alone so he could process his jumbled feelings.

"Don't overdo it okay? You're grumpy enough as you are." Lance snickered and dodged the half-hearted swipe Keith made at him.

He couldn't stop the warm fuzzy feeling he got when Keith asked to hang out. Lance decided he should really get going before his traitorous heart beat any faster, and blow his damn cover of being calm and collected. Because okay, maybe he was freaking out a little on the inside.

"All right Keith, I'll see you tomorrow morning!" Giving Keith’s back a harder pat than necessary before sashaying away.

“Lance, what the hell?” Keith grunted, feeling like he just got whiplash from Lance’s sudden change in moods. Hanging out with him was like a goddamn roller coaster. But Lance was already a ways down the street, an arm waving back at him. Keith huffed in amusement, shaking his head, before turning the opposite direction and made his way back towards the Voltron office building.

\--

Lance picked up the pace since it was not only freezing, but also because he knew that if he lingered, a small part of him kinda wanted to turn back to accompany mullet-man back to the office. But he didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. Especially since Keith seemed to be slowly but surely warming up to him, he really didn’t want to ruin whatever it was between them.

He knew he had a rather bad crush on the brooding man, yeah, he could hardly believe it himself. But he wasn't an asshole, and he wouldn't push himself on the new guy like that. Hell he didn’t even know if Keith swung that way. It was just a crush Lance was sure it would pass, like they usually did, so it would be fine. Right?

Hesitantly he chanced a look back, and he caught a flash of black hair, and red scarf before it faded into white like everything else around him. Well, there goes the idea of accompanying Keith back to the office. But that was okay because, Keith had offered to have lunch with him sometime. After willing his heart to beat normally again after that thought, he resumed his walk down the street.

Carefully he took out his phone to see if he had any missed calls or messages during the dinner. Seeing none, he moved to shove his phone back into his pocket, only to drop it when he bumped into something.

Squawking indignantly, he snatched his phone now covered in snow, hastily wiping it with his sleeve. He glared at the person who bumped into him without so much as a “sorry”. Lance’s mouth was already open, ready to scold said stranger, but his jaw snapped shut when he realized that said stranger was an old lady. A scary old lady. Oookay then. Maybe don’t chew her out.

"Hey uh...be more careful alright?" he ground out instead, before moving to walk past the lady. He just wanted to get home already.

"You. You would be the perfect test."

Lance turned around slowly, wondering if he just imagined that the woman had spoken to him. And not just any normal speech, no, but cryptic and creepy.

"U-Uh what?"

He gulped a little, feeling a chill go down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold at all. When the woman turned to face him with a smile that could only be described as evil, he knew he had to get the hell away from her. He did not want to deal with this creepy old lady.

"A-Anyway I'm gonna be on my way now." Laughing nervously, he backed away a few steps cautiously before sprinting down the street, snow be damned. He dared not look back even when he almost slipped on the icy floor a few times. Once he felt like he was far enough, he took an abrupt turn, slipping into an alleyway.

"Shit what the hell?" He panted, glueing himself to the wall of the alley before peeking down the road he ran down from. No one, good.

Hoping he had lost her, he took a minute to calm down, his panting breaths made visible in the cold air. Who the hell was that? Was this just some messed up dream? Five minutes ago he was having a nice dinner with Keith, and now he felt like he was in some sort of horror movie.

Okay, maybe he was just overthinking, it was just an old lady. Creepy or not.

Just when he felt confident that he was just overthinking things and that there was nothing to worry about, a cold hand fell heavily on his shoulder.

He yelped and jumped a foot in the air, before trying to wrench away from the surprisingly strong grip. Blue eyes widened when the creepy old lady smiled back at him. Before he could react however, a jolt of pain ran up his spine and his vision grew hazy. Despite his best efforts to get his body to listen to him, he felt his knees hit the hard ground, before he slumped onto the snowy floor. Everything went black.


	2. Just want to Go Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where things take a turn for the worst for Lance, how is he going to fix THIS?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 chapters at once to really get the story going! :D
> 
> kudos and comments are very much appreciated <3 ;0;/

Lance had no idea how long he had been out, but when he came to it was even darker than before, most of the sparsely filled streets now empty and eerily quiet. Getting up on wobbly legs, he groaned, feeling his whole body ache with both pain and the cold. What the hell? What happened? He had dinner with Keith, was on his way home, and then that creepy old lady had...he gasped, sitting up abruptly as dread and fear gripped his stomach. Looking around, he found himself alone, no sign of the creepy old lady. What the hell did she do to him and who the hell was she? 

He shook his head in an attempt to clear it before noticing something was off. Really off. Why were his clothes just kinda just...piled around him? And why was he so close to the floor? Bringing up a hand to check himself over he paused. His heart rate spiked and he shook his head in denial.  _ No. No nononononono –– NO!  _ Paws. He had paws. Okay, no big deal it's nothing, he was probably just imagining things. Just a dream. Laughing nervously he backed away from his clothes that were now a heap on the ground. Slowly he peered down at his furry chest, back to a fluffy tail, which twitched when he willed it to move. It took him a good minute before reality sunk in.  _ He was a fucking dog. _

Panicking now, he pushed and shoved his jacket aside until he could grab his cell phone before trying to unlock it with his clumsy paws. Nonononono this couldn't be happening! Even if he could call he couldn't speak! A loud whine that clearly came from him yet he still couldn't believe was his own echoed in the alleyway. Shit, shit! What should he do now? He can't get home like this and it was fucking freezing, the pound might get him and put him down, and he was going to die, as a dog. And no one would even know.

Lance paced around his belongings, ears pulled back in worry. 

Right,  _ Keith! _ Maybe he was still at the office? Quickly deciding that was the best he could do for now and having no time to lose, Lance made his way back from where he came from, and headed towards the Voltron office building. 

Walking on four limbs was weird and clumsy, but after a good minute of stumbling around in the snow he slowly got the hang of it. His pace quickened, before he was sprinting. The cold air hurt his lungs, snow whipping his face but it didn't matter, he had to catch Keith to help him or he would have no one to help him at all. 

Skidding to a stop at the automatic glass doors he whined and barked. He knew they were locked and without a keycard he couldn't get into the building. The security guard came out to try and chase him off for making a racket. Lance whined but backed off a little anyway. Guess he'd just have to wait for Keith to leave, if he wasn't already gone that is. He sighed sitting on the snowy curb tiredly. It was fucking cold and he just wanted to go home, what did he do to deserve this? Lowering his head he laid down and curled up the best he could to try and get warm while keeping a close eye out on the main entrance doors, praying that the familiar mop of black hair would appear sooner rather than later.

\--

It was half past midnight when Keith decided to call it a day. Sliding sheets of documents into his messenger bag, he dusted his desk off in preparation for the next day. The snow hasn't stopped, but at least the blizzard had passed. Looking out from the window, all the roofs of the nearby low rises were packed with a thick layer of snow. Any trails of footsteps from the evening were hidden without a trace. The security guard greeted him when he walked into the lobby downstairs. They exchanged a few words — mainly small talk — as they had gotten to know each other over the frequency of Keith's overtiming. He pulled out his phone and called for an Uber. He wasn't the type to taxi everywhere, but it was late and the bill was going to be billed towards the company anyways. 

The pin on the screen indicated that his ride would arrive in 5 minutes, but he stepped out into the cold needing some fresh air after bidding the guard a good night. Maybe it was having to work a full day with people running around the office and bustling noises everywhere, but there was something about the peace and quiet of the night that he enjoyed greatly. 

However, tonight ended up to be a little different. At first, he had mistaken the sound of a whine as wind blowing at crooked pastry shop sign, but upon following the noise and seeing the mop of brown fur in the corner of the building entrance, he knew that it was the source. 

Approaching curiously, he crouched down to his knees, and held his hand out as what he hoped was a friendly gesture.

\--

Lance was starting to lose hope, he had no idea how long he had been out there but he was freezing and he was starting to get buried in snow. While he was dozing off however, he heard the doors opening over the howling of the cold wind. He was even more surprised when a figure crouched in front of him and held a gloved hand in his direction. Blinking sleepily, he trailed his eyes up the hand before realizing that it was none other than Keith, and he was finally out of the goddamn building. Not only that, but he had come for his attention rather than the other way around. 

Lance quickly leaped up, shaking the snow off of himself before eagerly approaching Keith's hand, whining softly in his throat all the while. He was miserable okay? Give a guy –– or dog a break. He nuzzled mullet man's hand hoping Keith would take pity on him and help him somehow, his whining turning more pitiful as he moved closer to nose at Keith's scarf and jacket. Despite the forefront of his mind yelling at him for being as pathetic as whining and trying to make cute faces to get Keith to submit to him, he didn't like to admit that there was a part of him that was glad to have the chance to nuzzle Keith friggin Kogane and not get punched for it. Keith smelled nice, nicer than usual which was an odd thing to notice but he supposed his sense of smell was better now. 

Lance wagged his tail happily when Keith continued to pet him, seemingly hesitant at first but his hands were warm and god he'd absorb all the heat he could. When Keith turned to leave and a car pulled up Lance began to panic. 

_ Dammit no! _ He was successfully getting Keith to feel bad for him, but his chance was going to be ruined because of a stupid Uber. Whimpering louder, he grabbed the back of Keith's jacket with his teeth and looked at him straight in the eyes, hoping to convey something, anything that screamed  _ "HELP ME" _ . Come on mullet, don't let me down now, I need you to take me in, help me, anything! Lance kept the eye contact when Keith seemed confused but he didn't push him away. Eventually Lance let go of his jacket, his heart beating wildly when he was practically praying for Keith to get what he was trying to say. 

When Keith turned towards the car again Lance slumped. Ears pulled back. Shit. It didn't work, where would he go now? It was only 1 am and the snow wasn't going to stop. He sat there in the snow disheartened, head bowed and questioning every life choice he's ever made. What did he do to deserve this? How was this real?

Keith pulled open the door, "hey, sorry, could you give me a couple minutes? Someone seemed to have lost their dog here and I'm just going to take him back to security." the driver nodded in sympathy. 

"Thanks, appreciate it." he gave a small smile before closing the door and running back towards the building.

Lance perked up, ears and tail twitching when he heard Keith come back towards him. Although Keith went back into the building rather than pick him up like Lance wanted him to, he still naturally followed Keith back into the building. At least it was warmer. 

Somehow, as if the dog understood his intentions, it followed Keith passed the sliding doors and up to the front desk. 

After a short conversation of little to no luck, Keith had found himself still tied to the stray. Apparently it was against property management conduct to keep an unlicensed animal in the building. Lance watched as Keith spoke to the security guard who had told him to hush earlier. After hearing Keith's pleas getting shot down by the guard, Lance was starting to lose hope again. But Lance appreciated Keith’s efforts anyway, he was surprised he stopped at all for a random stray dog. 

Dammit Keith, screw the security guy, just take me home! He mentally pleaded, just wanting to sleep and get somewhere warm.

Torn between arguing for an exception, finding a shelter for the dog and his waiting Uber, Keith scratched the back of his head in frustration. 

It was either leaving it in the midst of a cold winter night, or to take it home in hopes his driver is nice enough to let dogs on. 

Scrunching up his face in thought he wondered if there was more he could do to convince Keith to just take him in for awhile. Lance paced in a small circle while Keith seemed to be stuck with his decision. 

Alright Lance, you're a cute motherfucking dog right now, and Keith could be an asshole but he was an asshole with a heart. He knew this, Keith wasn’t nearly as bad as he wanted others to believe. He could convince Keith to take him, no problem. Once he got his determination back, he huffed a little before prepping himself for his amazing acting skills. Human body or not he was gonna ace this.

Sitting on the ground like a good boy, he looked up at Keith with the saddest look he could muster. His ears pulled back, his sad whining even more pitiful and louder than before. He then leaned closer to lick at Keith's fingerless gloved hand. Kinda gross. But no, he couldn't think about that right now. Lance's blue eyes held contact with Keith's violets ones. The raven headed man seemed to come to a decision when he sighed and started to head back out of the building once more. Lance followed Keith out of the building anxiously, hoping mullet head didn't decide to leave him here out in the cold. Following Keith to the uber he gave the driver his best sad face too before pawing at Keith's jacket when the man opened the door again.

_ Don't leave me you asshole! Don't do it!  _

Lance perked up when the driver seemed pretty affected by his acting.

"Aww, did security not want to take in the poor little guy? Do you know the dog? They seem pretty attached to ya."

Yes Uber driver dude, that’s the spirit, Keith take a goddam hint. Lance nodded his furry head, his whole body still shivering and wet.

\--

What got Keith wondering on the ride home that night was how a seemingly normal day of work turned into going home well past midnight with a more than willing furry companion on his lap. It obviously wasn't aware of it's size as it crammed its nose in between the narrow space of the driver and passenger seat, focused on the road ahead and at the same time, obstructing Keith's view. Keith tried to apologize for the dog that wasn't his, but the driver only laughed it off saying that it probably smelled his maltese.

Lance couldn't have been more relieved when Keith had kept the door open to allow him inside the warmth of the car. He made sure to sit in Keith's lap to try and warm himself up the whole way, his fluffy tail brushing up against Keith’s chest. Keith was surprisingly comfy to sit on.

Luckily, Keith’s apartment wasn't too far from work. He bid the man a good night before closing the door. As usual, the concierge greeted him as he walked through the glass doors, but he didn't miss the quizzical look in the other's eye as they landed on the furry companion trailing happily behind him.

Once they reached Keith's apartment building Lance looked around curiously, realizing that he's never really been to Keith's place even as a human, yet here he was. As a dog. It was a nice modern apartment and Keith lived closer to the Voltron office than he expected. In the elevator, Lance watched Keith curiously wondering what he planned on doing with him, but he was grateful for mullet man and decided he'd try to behave himself as best he could, at least for now. Plus his fur was still wet. And he was cold, and hungry. Yeah he was pretty needy right now. 

Lance sniffed around Keith's apartment once the raven head opened the door. It was neat and modern as well, with minimal belongings, but there were some personal touches like paintings, posters and was that an electric guitar? Also the smell of Keith was overwhelming to his sensitive dog nose, but Lance couldn’t really find himself to mind it.

Lance looked around curiously, ears twitching and perking up when he saw something particularly interesting. It was like seeing Keith for real for the first time, and he wasn’t as emo and unfeeling as people would like to think. Huh, so he wasn't so boring after all. Lance didn't realize his tail had been wagging happily while he inspected everything with scrutiny before Keith spoke up when he got too close to his guitar.

"Hey, don't touch anything alright? I don't mind giving you a place to stay for now but don't make me regret it." 

Keith frowned down at the brown dog who sat down and pouted. Could dogs even pout? Keith didn't know, he had never had any pets before but something about this dog seemed to really be different. It was like it actually understood what people said. Weird. He was probably just imagining it.

Lance pouted the best he could with his furry face but relented. Right Lance, be a good boy at least for today. Mullet man did you a huge favor so you can pick on him later. Losing interest in the guitar for now, he shuffled to the kitchen, his paws clacking on the hardwood before pawing at the fridge before barking at Keith, hoping the other man knew what he was trying to convey.

Keith raised an eyebrow — how did the dog figure out that the food was stored in the fridge, it was its first time in his place. Do all dogs learn that fast?

"You want some food?" He asked hesitantly, glad that he was the only one here and that no one was to witness his stupidity in asking a dog for its opinion. Nonetheless, his question was answered with an enthusiastic bark.

Right, it's hungry, but he he had no dog food in the house. What do they eat again? or more precisely, Is there anything in his fridge that's edible? Meat should be safe right? Keith emptied his leftover roasted beef onto a plate and placed it on the floor. The dog took no time in diving right into it, teeth happily tearing the slice of meat apart before swallowing it down hastily. 

Resting his chin on his bent knees, Keith watched as it enjoyed its meal. Its mixed coat of dark and light brown glistened under his kitchen lights, and for the first time, he noticed the unusual eye colour of the stray. "Blue.." he said out loud without meaning to. As if being called, the dog looked up from his food plate and gave him a questioning look with a tilt of his head. "You like that, girl?" He smiled, petting it's one flopped ear.

Lance was rather intrigued to see Keith so interested in him, he was even petting him out of his own will, (although Lance wouldn’t complain because damn it felt nice) was Keith a dog person? That would really work in his favour, he never really thought Keith was a dog kinda guy. But then Keith's statement made Lance squawk indignantly. Although it came out more as a confused noise that resembled a loud whine, his ears pulling back. 

_ Girl? GIRL?! WHAT?! _ Lance quickly glanced down, shoving his head between his two front legs. His package was still there, thankfully. It was just uh...kinda hidden. Lance would've been beet red right now if his fur didn't cover his face. Shit, he was naked in Keith's apartment and he just fucking checked to see if he still had his bits. Real great, this was the highest point in his life. Okay, he didn't lose his balls, Keith was just super unobservant. Even though Lance was rather annoyed at being called a girl, he couldn't help but feel that it was oddly endearing for Keith to be that oblivious. 

Huffing through his wet nose, he gave Keith an unamused look but decided against trying to get the other man to check his lower bits to see that –– NO he wasn’t a girl. That would be mortifyingly embarrassing. 

Now that his stomach was full he just wanted somewhere warm to sleep. Deciding to give Keith a bit of a thank you for feeding him, he butted his brown head into the man's hand and gave it a quick lick before making a beeline for the couch. Hopping on the couch he tried to get comfortable before he heard Keith's cell phone go off. Lance peeked over the back of the sofa curiously wondering who could be calling Keith at this ungodly hour. His ears twitched and swiveled to try and hear the conversation.

Oh it was Shiro, if the familiar baritone voice was anything to tell by.

"Hey Keith, buddy, sorry for calling so late, did you get home yet?"

Lance tilted his head and furrowed his fluffy brows in confusion. Shiro sounded odd. Hopping off the couch Lance sat next to Keith and watched them talk curiously.

Keith inwardly sighed and pressed his fingers against his forehead, trying to massage the incoming headache away. It was really no surprise as to who would call him at this hour for he could count the number with just the fingers on one hand. "Yea, just got home." he replied cutting the answer short in hopes of ending the needless conversation, but apparently his memo didn't get across.

"Listen Keith, I-"

"Shiro," he said the other's name firmly, keeping his tone neutral, "it's 2, it's been a long day - I'm tired." there was a pause on the line - the long and uncomfortable ones full of anxiety - until finally, shiro responded. 

"Yeah you're right, sorry for calling you so late. Good night." He knew that the other wanted to say more, but he didn't give the other man the opportunity. "Night." his fingers automatically pressed the hang up key and he tossed the phone onto the couch. 

Lance wasn't sure what was going on with Keith and Shiro but he never really noticed the odd tension there until now. He was a little concerned about that but Keith seemed exhausted so he decided that it wasn't the best time to think about it. 

Lance let out a worried whine. 

"Hey, It's okay." a hand landed on Lance’s head, giving it a gentle pat.

Keith rubbed his sore lids in an attempt to soothe the dryness. Great, he's going crazy. He's talking to a dog like a person, he really needed to get some sleep. 

In an effort to get to bed asap, Keith dragged his body to the washroom to clean up and change into his pjs. However, when he finally got himself to the bedroom, he found out that he wasn't alone. Two blue eyes blinking at him in the darkness followed by a wagging tail. He groaned. 

Lance had waited on Keith's bed after making himself comfy on it. It was soft and smelled like Keith, he was about to drift off when he watched Keith exit the bathroom but then Keith had to open his big mouth.

"No." he directed his index finger to the living room. "You're not sleeping on the bed."

  
  


Lance whined pitifully in his throat curling up more not wanting to move. He was tired too, and this was comfy. 

Lance could feel Keith's glare without even looking and sulked, while reluctantly hopping off the bed. He padded past the bedroom door, turning back and whining again to see if Keith would change his mind.

"No Blue, sleep outside alright?" Keith sighed.

Lance's ears slumped and he huffed, before making his way to the couch instead, tail flicking irritably. Fine! If Keith wanted the bed to himself he could have it for now. Not like he wanted to sleep with him anyway. 

Lance was too tired to argue today, but he was gonna sleep in a nice comfy bed whether Keith liked it or not, eventually. Once he got comfortable on the sofa, he pulled a blanket onto himself using his teeth. Comfy and warm he slowly drifted off, hoping Keith wouldn't do something stupid like take him to the pound. Lance had no idea how this was even real, and he really hoped that when he woke up, it would've all been just a dream.


	3. Oh Boy...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At first Lance thought that worrying about dog food was the worst he had to deal with. But things start to get messier as reality hits hard, and Lance is in a real predicament.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All comments and kudos appreciated! Thank you guys for the support so far, I hope you enjoy! :D

Keith’s world when black the moment his head hit the pillow and it wasn't until his fingers found the off button on his phone alarm the next morning did he open his eyes again. Reaching his arms above his head, he stretched the soreness away from his body as the dawn light flooded into his small but clean bedroom. Morning routines were quick for him as he tossed on a clean pair of shirt and pants from his sliding closet. 

Lance could hear Keith's alarm way louder than he normally should be able to. Stretching and yawning on the sofa he cracked his stiff joints before he heard the door to Keith's room open.

Finally, when Keith opened the door to the living room, the memory of the past 6 hours all came back to him in the form of a certain brown haired, 4 legged companion sleeping in the middle of his sofa. Right, he really did take in a stray dog last night.

Mullet just stared at him like he couldn't really believe it before he turned and went to the bathroom. Lance huffed, looking down at himself and he whined, realizing with dread that no, it really wasn't a dream. 

Hopping off the couch he approached the bathroom door and sat there waiting for Keith to come out so he could get something to eat. To be honest Lance would give anything for a hot shower, but he knew that was impossible in his current predicament, much to Lance’s dismay. 

Once Keith stepped out, he seemed to look at Lance like he was spooked, but Lance only found it more amusing than anything. Deciding to take pity on Keith he butted his head against his waist and licked his hand before padding over to the fridge and barking at Keith. Pawing at the fridge he whined soft in his throat, tail wagging in anticipation for food.

Do dogs really learn that fast? He's never heard of a dog who'd paw at the fridge, but then again, he barely have any friends that had dogs. 

"Down girl, this isn't food for you." he slid Blue's reaching paws away from his source of food before opening the door. 

The other gave him a defiant look from the ground, which almost drew a chuckle from him. Keith shook his head in defeat and made a mental note to buy dog food on the way home. "But only this morning's an exception." He salvaged whatever left in the fridge, and served it as breakfast to his new housemate. 

After having an okay breakfast that Keith put together, Lance was relieved that Keith knew to take him outside or he would've peed on the guy's carpet. Lance made sure to lift his leg as _ high  _ as it would go while doing his business whilst sending Keith the best deadpan look he could muster with his doggy face, hoping the other boy knew that only male dogs would lift their leg to do their business, and take a darn HINT.

Lance huffed a little when Keith didn't take notice at all but relented and followed Keith out and into the streets. Lance stuck close to Keith obediently. He didn’t want to give Keith a reason to put him on a leash, good thing Keith didn’t have one, which was fine for Lance, he didn't want to be treated like an actual dog when he wasn’t. 

Walking to work with Keith was a little awkward to say the least, the snow was cold on his bare paws but it didn't feel as cold as he did last night in the snow. Keith was oddly quiet and the raven head seemed to like watching his antics which was like, the opposite of when he was a human, at least to his knowledge, odd. Lance supposed that he was a cute dog now so that had to be it. 

When faced with the familiar glass double doors of the Voltron office Lance felt his heart drop a little.

Right. He would be missing from work, and without a reason too, how was he supposed to fix this? He would get fired if they thought he was playing hooky for more than 3 days. Lance would have to think of a solution soon for that. Sticking close to Keith and away from the other coworkers who all looked like they wanted to pet him was harder than he thought. While he loved attention as a human, he did  _ not _ want attention as a dog. At least not by people he didn't know. He was still horribly aware that he was basically walking around naked okay? It still felt weird, and he didn’t need people feeling him up like this. 

Upon arriving at their floor with a ding, he padded his way into the hall, sniffing around curiously. The usual coffee smelled 10x better like this, and he could oddly pick out Pidge, Hunk, and Allura's scents among the others. Well aside from Keith's of course, he probably smelled like Keith. Scrunching up his furry face at that thought, he paused when Hunk's scent got a lot stronger and he almost rammed into his best friend's knee who had just turned the corner. 

"Oh hey, morning Keith -- and awwwww who is this?" 

Hunk crouched and started cooing at Lance. Even though Hunk was cooing at him and baby talking to him, he could see the bags under his friend's eyes. Of course Hunk was worried about him, he butted his head into his hand whining a little in his throat, trying to let the big guy know he was alright. 

Keith made an odd expression at the exchange not sure what to make of it since Blue seemed to only be affectionate with him so far, but this was new. Then again Hunk was a likable guy, but that didn’t make sense cause Keith was pretty sure he wasn’t. This dog sure was odd.

"That's...Blue." The words felt foreign on his tongue as if he was introducing a newborn that he had overnight to his coworker, but Hunk didn't acknowledge his odd behavior as he happily scratched the spot behind Blue's ear.

"Er... What brought you here... if you don't mind me asking?" He wasn't too familiar with the big guy but he seemed to be Lance's partner in crime. He probably only talked to the guy at most two times during his employment here, since they were in different departments.

"Oh, I never knew you were a dog person Keith, he's a cutie." Hunk smiled in a friendly manner before pausing at Keith's comment.

"Oh right!" The larger man just remembered what he had came in for, peering over at Lance's desk to see it empty made him deflate. No luck in the office either, and here Hunk was hoping Lance would magically turn up at work the next day. 

"Oh it's probably nothing…? I dunno, it's just that Lance didn't come back to our apartment last night, and when I tried to call him it went straight to voicemail. Lance could be a bit careless, or a bit of a prankster sometimes, but he's never ignored my calls before like this. I asked around and no one seems to have seen him after leaving work last night. Do you know where he could've went?" 

Hunk shifted nervously under Keith's gaze, like Keith, he didn't really know the brooding man other than the few times Lance mentioned him. Hunk was was friendly to most, but Keith did have an intimidating sort of aura around him. 

Lance looked back and forth between his two coworkers, his tail flopped and ears pulled back. He hung his head low feeling bad for being the source of their problem. Oh how he wished he could speak right now, but all he could really do was whine softly in his throat.

The news took Keith by surprise. Lance didn't make it home last night? 

"Well...actually we went out for tacos last night after he finished his work since we both skipped lunch, but we went our separate ways right after..." he trailed off as his mind started to play out all sorts of scenarios. Was he the last one that saw Lance last night? Before his hypothetical disappearance? Why is this starting to sound like the beginning of an episode of Criminal Minds? He really needed to stop thinking about such morbid things, surely Lance was okay...right? 

Hunk's eyes widened a little, a bit of hope seemed to cling to the bigger guy hearing some new information about Lance last night, before deflating once more when his story ended.

"I see, so he went to dinner with you at the taco place and he's been missing since.” Hunk tried his best not to show how worried he really was, not wanting to alert others unnecessarily if Lance was okay and maybe just forgot to tell Hunk he went somewhere else. As unlikely as that seemed to be.

“Thanks Keith, maybe his phone ran out of his batteries and he’s visiting his cousin’s place or something? Just uh...keep an eye out on him for me? And let me know if you see him? Thanks!"    
  
“Yeah, of course.” Keith replied, worry making its way into his own stomach.

Hunk waved, petting the dog fondly before turning to leave. 

Lance whined, taking a few steps when he saw Hunk leave. He felt bad about making his friend worry of course, but there wasn't anything he could do right now, so he turned back to Keith, watching as his thick brows seemed to furrow with...was that worry? As much as that warmed Lance to think about, he really hoped none of his friends would make a big deal out of all of this, so that if he  _ did _ get back soon it wouldn’t be a huge mess. God knows a manhunt for him would be fruitless because he was here, as a goddamned dog. He really didn’t want to put his friends and family through something like that when he was perfectly fine; You know minus being a dog.   
  
Keith stood there dumbfounded for a while. Surely it would be okay if Hunk thought so? As much as Keith hated to admit it, he really didn’t know Lance that well, hell he didn’t even have his number. I mean there was no need, they sat next to each other everyday and they really haven’t known each other for more than two and a half weeks since Keith started his contract. But thinking back to Lance’s smile yesterday as he waved goodbye, he really hoped that Hunk was right, and that he was okay. As much as Keith’s gut rolled at the possibilities, he had work to do, and there was nothing he could really do that he’s sure Hunk and Lance’s family couldn’t. So he resigned himself to doing his work and keeping an eye out for anything that would hint at Lance’s whereabouts, but otherwise knew there was nothing more he could do.    
  
Lance watched Keith warily, the man having stood in the hall for over three minutes of silence, clearly in deep thought after Hunk left. Much to Lance’s relief the raven head moved towards his desk instead of calling the cops. 

Lance followed Keith, making his way into the man's cubicle and sat next to the raven head's chair watching him expectantly. Great. Now he was just going to have to sit here all day listening to Keith clack away at his keyboard. He was going to be bored out of his mind. But for now he decided to behave and try to think of a way to at least tell his friends he's okay, as well as somehow come up with an excuse as to why he's missing. Lance snapped out of his reverie when he heard Keith return with a mug of coffee. Lance perked up, his ears lifting and his tail wagging as he put his front paws on Keith's thighs to try and reach for the man's coffee.

Keith’s trip to the kitchen was the only way to alleviate his impending headache. As he drummed his fingers anxiously on the marble surface, running through the list of deadlines this week. He glanced at his watch, it's not even 11 yet. Keith let out a sigh, hopefully the peace here and the caffeine he's making will help to push the minutes forward. Unfortunately, as he found out in the next couple of minutes, today's fate decided to let him have it rough. Not only was he questioned about Lance's whereabouts again - and it almost made him question why as they barely had what you call a friendship - but also half of his only dose of antidote was spilled across his keyboard by an unwanted and definitely uninvited paw.

\-------

Lance hopped off of Keith's lap when he saw the coffee spill onto the man's desk and pants. Now Lance wasn't a dick, and Keith  _ did _ and  _ was _ still helping him out so no, he didn't mean to make a mess of the guy's coffee, he only wanted a sip. But it was a little funny. He would’ve been laughing and rolling on the floor if the situation wasn't so weirdly bizarre.

Lance could feel the angry glare from Keith already, the man having a death grip on the now wet coffee mug. Lance whined softly, licking at the coffee on Keith’s hand as an apology before sitting under Keith's desk quietly not wanting to get Keith to hate him and potentially kick him out and back onto the streets. 

Only after about an hour or two –– which Lance dozed in and out of –– did Lance get up to sniff around the office. Chancing a glance up at Keith, he saw that mullet head was still engrossed in his work. Thick brows furrowed as he grumbled under his breath before writing something on a document. Seeing he wasn't paying any attention to him, Lance decided to sneak into his own cubicle. Looking back and forth down the hall and making sure no one was looking, he dashed across and hopped onto his familiar chair. He used a clumsy paw to move his mouse. The computer turned on and the home screen with a password showed up. Lance perked up, making sure once more that no one was looking before snatching a pen from the desk with his teeth, and proceeded to click in his password one painstaking letter after another.

When he successfully logged in, Lance felt oddly proud of himself. Nudging his mouse with his wet nose, he clicked into his e-mails and groaned inwardly realizing how hard this was going to be. Screw it, he had time anyway. After poking and clicking all the recipients to the e-mail Lance wanted to send it to, he was determined to think of a good e-mail as an excuse before he heard Keith’s low curses from across the hall. 

Scrabbling off the chair and getting rid of the pen Lance trotted back towards Keith and peeked around the corner. The man was clearly upset and looking all around for him. Well, it’s not like he did anything wrong, so Lance barked lightly to get Keith's attention before making his way over to him.

Keith whipped around at the bark and looked like he wanted to scold him for leaving his side like that, but just heaved a huge sigh instead. Fists at his sides loosening.

Keith did not need his coworkers watch him scold a dog like a person. Today had been stressful enough. He didn’t need social ridicule to go along with it.

Lance pouted, damn Keith had ruined his plans! He was so close too. Okay maybe he would've taken hours to type a decent message with a pen in his mouth, but he could've totally done it.

After another 2 hours of absolute boredom, Keith finally got up to leave. Lance had never been so relieved, he knew Keith usually would stay until ungodly hours, but he supposed he had taken a toll the man today. Lance gave himself a mental high five. Keith needed a break anyway, he was waayyyy too uptight if you asked him.

On the way down the elevators, they bumped into Allura in the lobby. She smiled warmly at Keith and she seemed hesitant to ask whatever it was she wanted to ask, but Keith already had an idea as to what it was.

"Oh! Hello Keith, leaving early today?"

She smiled elegantly, tucking a silver strand of hair behind her ear.

"Uh, yeah...I kinda have company so..."

Keith trailed off awkwardly glancing down at Lance with a tired expression. Allura followed the man's gaze and gasped, her face lighting up.

"Oh! Well isn't he just delightful~? And what's his name? How come I've never seen you bring him to work before?"   
  
Keith grimaced a little at how excited everyone was about Blue, did all people take to animals that quickly? He still wasn’t sure what to do with him, he supposed asking Allura to help wouldn’t hurt.    
  
“Yeah uh, I found him outside the building last night in the cold, I couldn’t just leave him there so…”   
  
He shrugged, for lack of a better explanation. Allura looked at Lance with a pitying expression.    
  
“Oh how awful, the poor thing must’ve been so cold, I’m so glad that you took him in Keith, he seems to be in good health.” She smiled while rubbing Lance’s head.   
  
Oh, Lance could get used to this, not only did the petting feel nice, it was Allura who was giving him attention. Lance’s tail thumped on the marble floor.   
  
Keith felt an odd emotion in his chest at the display but pushed it aside.    
  
“Yeah, I don’t mind babysitting Blue for a while, but I can’t possibly keep him. I mean, I have no idea how to properly care for a dog, and I’m not sure if I’m financially ready for such a commitment –”   
  
Keith sighed running a hand through his hair tiredly.    
  
“What I mean to say is, Blue probably belongs to someone at the office, Blue’s obviously not a stray and was pretty well kept so if you could ask around to see…”   
  
Allura understood immediately and stood up after Keith’s explanation.    
  
“Oh of course Keith! That’s so kind of you, I’m sure their owner must miss Blue dearly, let me just take a quick photo and I will send a full company e-mail alright?”    
  
Keith gave her a small smile and nodded, “yeah that’d be really helpful thanks.”   
  
Lance watched the exchange and huffed a little. So Keith wasn’t planning on keeping him. He couldn’t help but feel a flash of disappointment, but he understood, he was just a random dog out of nowhere of course Keith didn't want to keep him. Lance perked up when he heard his name being mentioned, oh Keith and Allura were still talking.   
  
“ - so you haven’t seen Lance after dinner last night?” Allura inquired with worry.   
  
Keith shook his head, this was the 3rd time today, he honestly wasn’t that close to Lance so he didn’t know why so many people were asking him about his whereabouts.    
  
“I see, well thank you Keith, have a good night and take good care of Blue now.” She waved before catching the next elevator up.

Keith barely managed to throw out an awkward wave before Allura slipped past the opening door. He felt somewhat relieved knowing that she was willing to help out and that Blue might be able to find her owner soon. Juggling between his busy work life, it was hard to add in a dog to look after. Besides, aside from watching Airbud movies when he was a kid and the minimal interactions he had with Shiro's dog before, he possessed little to no knowledge when it comes to canines. Anyways, first things first, before Blue's owner comes forward, he needs to go and get a leash. 

He glanced down and noticed that the Blue was sitting by his foot, but her attention was focused on the direction where Allura was last at, a gesture that somehow reminded him of Lance. Weird. He scratched that thought.

"Come on, let's go Blue." He turned his heels and patted his leg, prompting her to follow. "Let's get you some food."

Upon hearing the mention of food, her ears instantly perked up, and it didn't take her long to catch up to Keith with her trot.

It was when they got to the pet store that Keith fully realized how uneducated he was in this doggy business. He could try and lie about it, but in the end, the shop owner was the one that threw everything he needed together which included a beautifully hand crafted blue leather collar that came with a matching 5ft leash. 

"Right, so my guy here will deliver your pup's bag of food tonight. Aiming to be there around 8 or so." The guy said as he rung him up at the cash. "Oh, and these boots, just keep them on until you get home. There's still quite a bit of salt on the streets."

Oh right, that's another thing that he had learned. Apparently dogs in the city needed either boots or wax on their paws during snow season or else the heavy salt will damage their paws enough to make them bleed. 

The owner handed him the bag with his purchase before bending down to give blue a pat on the neck. "You be good now, pup!" 

Blue snorted in return and lifted her snout in the opposite direction. She seemed to be displeased with her new collar and boots. 

"Okay, come on Blue, let's go!" Keith gave the leash a tiny tug and after some hesitation, she reluctantly followed. Behind him, the owner chuckled and waved him goodbye. 

It looks like he's got some leash training to do.

Lance frowned at the new arrangement. Being a dog? Okay, could be worse, being a dog but being treated like one? Not okay. Glaring up at Keith he tugged on the leash to show how unhappy he was about it. The dan thing was chafing his neck and he didn't like the idea of Keith being in control of him. The boots were fine, at least it felt better than having his paws in the snow. 

Once they got back to the apartment, he quickly moved to the fridge, sniffing it and pawing at it before barking at Keith like he did the day before. Dog food be damned, he won't touch that stuff no matter what Keith said. He was degraded more than enough, and Keith wouldn't stop calling him a girl either. 

Keith shook his head and sighed. "No Blue, your food will arrive soon alright?" he frowned a little not sure what to do to get Blue to listen to him better, at least she wasn't a super mischievous dog but she certainly had an attitude. A few moments later once Keith got changed into more comfortable clothing did the doorbell ring. Ah the food was here. Lance could only glare at the door knowing what was going to come next.

Keith read the label on the back of the bag - he ordered a medium size seeing that it'll be enough to last a couple weeks. It says 2 cups a day, so if broken down into morning and evening meals, that would be 1 cup each. Thankfully, his limited bakeware set included such a scooper and he dumped a cup of the kibbles into the newly bought bowl. He set it down by the wall, across from the dining table before he sat down in front of his own meal.

Lance glanced down at his bowl, he was going to outright reject the dog food but he found he was slightly curious. And very hungry. Nibbling on a single piece, he bit down on it before promptly spitting it out regretting his decision immediately. UGH! That was way worse than he thought it would be.

Giving the bowl a disgusted look again before turning his head from it he hopped onto the chair next to keith and whined at him before trying to go for Keith's food on the plate. He was hungry dammit and he refused to eat whatever was in his doggy bowl.

Keith made a noise before lifting his plate away from Blue's wet nose. "No."

Lance whined again trying to stretch himself to reach it only to lose balance and fall, bringing the chair he was on down with him. Lance whined pitifully. Ow. That hurt and he was still hungry. Great. He laid there, defeated. Maybe he'd just steal food from the fridge later when Keith went to bed.

  
\--

  
Keith had almost lost his dinner when Blue almost swiped the whole plate off of the table. Thankfully, his quick reflexes had him snatching the plate before the dog took it down with him.    
  
Keith huffed, feeling a bit bad for Blue, but he was his dog now and Keith was going out of his way to help, he should be able to eat dinner in peace.    
  
He would never admit to slipping Blue some of his dinner while he ate it, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Everyone had asked about Lance today and well...he did feel responsible somehow, being the last person to see him. Surely Lance’s friends and family have searched everywhere possible? There was nothing more short of calling the police for an investigation that Keith could do right?    
  
Blue seemed to have noticed the change in mood, the usually hyper dog now looking at him with what looked like concern. Ears swivelling as if trying to see what was bothering Keith. Keith just felt like a crazy person, to think that this dog would somehow be able to sense his moods. Or know enough to understand what was going on.    
  
“Must be nice to be a dog huh? Nothing to worry about.” Keith mused out loud.    
  
Blue actually snorted at that and Keith. Oh if only you knew Keith, Lance thought bitterly. Keith couldn’t stop the chuckle that escaped him. He’d never been one to want to own a pet, and even if everything about Blue being smart may be in his mind, it was nice to have company. He bent down to pet Blue, his mind wandering back to Lance when the dog’s eyes seemed almost identical to his missing coworkers. Worry worked its way into his gut once more, and Keith fought down the urge to do something crazy, like head out in the middle of the night to go looking for Lance.    
  
He was snapped out of his thoughts when his phone vibrated, it was Allura.    
  
[Allura] 9:08pm   
  
“Hello Keith, I just wanted to let you know that Lance’s family has finally decided to contact authorities having no luck finding his whereabouts. They are rightfully worried sick. I have sent out a company wide e-mail in regards to Lance. I hope he’s okay, I just wanted to tell you personally, since you knew him better than most people in the office. Of course Hunk and Pidge also are aware, please keep an eye out for him. Good night Keith.”    
  
  
  
Keith stared at his phone in shock. It was his worst nightmare confirmed. For Lance’s family to escalate it to a missing person’s case…   
  
Keith almost had a heart attack when Blue made a pained noise. Wide violet eyes flicked over to see that the dog seemed to have read the screen, but that was impossible, right? But Blue’s demeanor changed completely, ears flopped and head hung down.    
  
His brows furrowed in worry. What the hell was going on? Dogs can’t read! But...maybe Blue could sense his own worry? Keith didn’t know.    
  
“Lance…” Keith breathed. He gripped his phone hard, staring at the text but not really seeing it.    
  
Blue whined, low and pitiful and Keith could swear those blue eyes were watery.    
  
“Do you want to help me look for him?” Keith asked. Fuck it, he would talk to Blue. The dog seemed smart enough. He doesn’t care if he was crazy for talking to a dog anymore.    
  
Lance had no idea what to think, his heart ached, knowing that he was officially a missing person. His poor family. Even Keith seemed genuinely worried, and that did things to his poor heart. And when Keith asked if he wanted to try and help him find himself? Well, his heart just broke. Keith would try and...look for him? He cared that much? Lance had no idea how to react, since he knew it would be a fruitless search. But then Keith’s grey violet eyes seemed to be waiting for his response, and Lance couldn’t say no. He butted his head into Keith’s hand and barked.    
  
The small smile on Keith’s face was worth it, as the man got up to grab his jacket and leash.    
  
“Come on Blue, let’s go.” Keith said, as he slipped on his jacket and scarf.    
  
Lance felt nervous as he was hooked onto the leash, and his new blue doggie boots carefully put on. How the hell was he going to fix this mess? 


End file.
